


Concentration

by supershadsy



Series: Limit Breaker [9]
Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Action, Fights, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 03:24:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6453427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supershadsy/pseuds/supershadsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Link versus Cloud!” Roy exclaimed, carrying around a hat filled with gold pieces. “Timed battle! It’s gonna be a good one, dudes, I’ll tell you what. Winner take all, place your bets!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Concentration

**Author's Note:**

> PLACE YOUR BETS!!!
> 
> Recommended listening: ["KoncenTrad" by Beltaine.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt-sWjHqako)

“Gather ‘round, gather ‘round!” Roy hollered, holding out Luigi’s hat with a few gold pieces in it. “The fight of the century is going on right now! Place your bets, challengers!”

“Roy, please give me back my hat…” Luigi pleaded, just out of reach of his billowing cape.

He danced through the foyer, running smack into Samus along the way. “Who’s fighting?” she asked, a hand on her hip.

“Link and Cloud!” he exclaimed, thrusting the cap right under her nose. “It’s gonna be a good one, dude, I’ll tell you what. Winner take all, place your bets!”

She rolled her eyes and pulled two gold coins from the back of her suit, jingling inside the hat. “Fine. For Link,” she replied.

“All right, all right!” Roy grinned and whipped his head around. “Let’s see, let’s see...oh, Peach! Marth! Bro!”

The pair were in the corner of the foyer, hand in hand, and Marth tried desperately to turn away, pretending not to notice him. Roy was dedicated however, scurrying right to his side and pushing the hat right between them. “Link versus Cloud, place your bets, folks!”

“Gods, Roy…” Marth sighed.

“Is that...Luigi’s?” Peach asked uncertainly.

“Yes…” The owner was shortly behind, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

Peach frowned and flicked Roy’s nose with her free hand. “You ought to be more considerate, Roy--!” she scolded. “Besides, I know Mario doesn’t approve of gambling…”

“But it’s Link and Cloud!” He insisted, jingling the coins. “This fight is just going to be good, I know it--! I’ve got 500 gold on Link!”

“Five _hundred?”_ Marth repeated, gaping. “You’re as foolish as they come…”

“What? Link’s my bro, I gotta support him!” He scratched under his headband. “Then again, no one’s put any money on Cloud, shame…”

“I will.” Bayonetta strolled by, throwing several chips of gold into the hat. “He’s improved quite a bit, and if Link lets his guard down even for a moment, he’ll be in trouble.”

Roy nodded, chuckling. “All right, all right!” He started backing up, right into Luigi, and he took him under his arm as he meandered around the rest of the foyer. _“Gather ‘round, Link versus Cloud, place your bets!”_

* * *

 

Cloud and Link stood back to back, swords out, still and steady. “Three minutes,” Link whispered, leaning harder against him. “Don’t hold back.”

“I won’t,” Cloud replied, biting his lip even as a smile curled on it. _This is the first time in a while that we’ve actually competed_ against _each other,_ he thought, steadying his breathing. _Usually we keep ourselves on the same team, or it’s just laid back practicing. This is different._ He tightened his grip on his sword. _This is for real._

“Ready?” Link asked. His vowels crept into a higher decibel range, breaking out of the whisper and unveiling his excitement.

“Mmn.” Every nerve in Cloud’s body was strung tight like a guitar string, ready to spring and resonate at any second.

“Three…”

“Two…” Cloud joined him in the countoff, focusing his gaze as close to his peripheral as he could.

“One…

_“Go.”_

Both of them whirled around, swords out, and they clashed at the same time. Link had the advantage, catching his sword at an odd angle, and with the strength behind it to thrust it down and push him back. Cloud skidded back on his boots, throwing a Blade Beam to give him more space as he regained his bearings. Link had the same idea, rolling a bomb at Cloud’s feet, only for it to explode a good foot ahead of him. _That’s how you always start,_ he thought as Link shielded his projectiles. _You’re going to need to come up with something a little more creative than that._

Cloud took a deep breath, ducking his body low, and rushed at Cloud, sword close to his side. Link’s eyes never left the tip of his sword, and when he reached less than a foot away, he ducked to the side. _Wait--!_ Cloud swung his sword wide, and managed to grab Link’s back as he turned away, knocking him flat on his face. “Gh!” Link grunted, rolling out of the fall and back to his feet. He wiped his mouth with the back of his shield hand and grinned. _Oh, boy._

He came bounding at Cloud, preparing a backswing, and it came down _hard_ on the Buster Sword, the clang resonating through his hands and up into his shoulders. Link followed it up with a couple more equally hard blows, knocking his sword down from his upper torso, to his stomach, down to his hips, and with that, he jabbed twice at his shoulder, specifically the one without the guard. _Shit--!_

Cloud countered with a downward swipe, but Link easily jumped over it, giving him a little more space. _Damn, I’ve got to be careful._ He swiped forward with his sword, edging closer until was able to scathe across Link’s chest with the tip, causing him to yelp. Cloud’s heart squeezed in his chest. _Just a match, it’s just a match._

_(isn’t it funny, after all this time,_

_you’re still worried about whether you’re going to hurt him?)_

Cloud grit his teeth and shook his head, ducking around a stray arrow fired from in front of him. _The one time I_ don’t _is the time that it’ll matter,_ he thought, approaching him in a zig-zag line.

_(“You need to use your feet when you fight,” Marth advised. “Keep your weight on one side, then dash to the other to startle your opponent.”)_

_Fine, fine._ Cloud weighted himself completely on his right, aligning himself against Link’s left-handed sword. Just before Link swatted at him, he twisted his waist and attacked from his left, throwing all his weight into Link’s hip, below his shield. It sent him ricocheting across the stage, right to the very edge of the ledge. Link tossed out his clawshot and let himself slide off, the chain hooked solid to the edge while he hung below. _He does this to catch his breath,_ Cloud thought, running over to him. _If I keep up the pressure, I can get a KO--_

As soon as he reached the clawshot, however, Link snapped back up, using his momentum to fling himself into the air, sword pointed right down into his chest. “Shit!” Cloud exclaimed, but his feet were too slow to react, and Link crushed him beneath his sword, bouncing him off the floor and into the air above the stage. _Not good, not good--!_

With the upper hand, Link jumped up and spun with his sword. _“HEEYAH!”_ he cried, juggling Cloud in his blows as he thrust him once,

twice,

three times,

a fourth,

and even a _fifth,_

until Cloud sky-rocketed toward the ceiling. His body pulsed with heat and pain, more than he expected from the hits. _I don’t know if I can come down from this,_ he thought, and it wasn’t until he toppled back to the floor that he opened his eyes. _What? That wasn’t enough?_

Link was staring at him from above, blue eyes gleaming as he smirked. He tossed his sword into his shield hand and spell-signed with one hand. _“How are you feeling?”_

Cloud hissed and thrust at his feet, only making Link laugh as he jumped out of the way, dancing out of reach of his sword. _Don’t tease me, you…!_ He bounded to his feet, despite the pain pulsing through his skin, sweat streaming down his brow. _I’ll show you._ He ran at him, still giggling, and jabbed him right in the stomach without warning. Link grunted, digging his heels in and swinging his sword from the ground up in an arc, thrusting Cloud’s sword high in the air. It threw off his balance, staggering him backwards, and Link held his stomach with his shield hand as he continually jabbed at him, forcing him further and further back. _One thing’s for sure,_ Cloud thought as he felt the sting in each tiny scratch on his arms and his face from the Master Sword’s bites. _He definitely isn’t holding back…_

Cloud regripped his sword and swung it like a bat, clashing it against Link’s shield as he jumped back. Immediately, Link grabbed three arrows from behind and knocked them all at once, yellow ribbon flashing at him for an instant before they flew into his face. Cloud was forced to arch back to duck from such short range, and the force of his backbend strained his spine and nearly put himself off balance once again. _Up, up!_ He jammed his sword into the dirt and forced himself up, ducking behind it as Link tried to swipe at him once again. When he tried to get his sword out, however, it stuck fast into the dirt. “No, no--!” he grunted, gripping with all his might.

Upon seeing this, Link froze, and his sword dropped to his side as he watched him struggle. “Tch...you’re not...gonna take advantage of this?” Cloud hissed, his grip constantly slipping on his sword as he tried to wrench it out. _What the hell? Come out, come out, come out…_

Link shook his head. “I want a fair fight,” he whispered, then lifted his sword up slowly, the tip of the blade shining in the setting sun. It edged closer, right into Cloud’s face, and he kept his eyes on it until it slipped under his chin, the cold metal stroking first beneath it and then around to his cheek. It forced his head up, and sent a chill down through his core. _What...are you doing…?_

The force in his grip felt delayed, especially as Link’s grin grew, as he tilted his head, as he bit his lip. _A fair fight?_ Cloud exclaimed in his head as he felt his own lips part. _How in the world...do you call this a fair fight? When you’re looking at me like that…_

“10!”

A booming voice echoed around them, but Link didn’t budge, tilting the flat edge against his cheek. _None of us have gotten a knockout yet._

“9! 8!”

Cloud struggled even more intensely against his sword, and it finally gave, jerking him on his backside on the ground. Link yanked it back, cutting Cloud’s cheek as he did so, hot blood running down the side of his face.

“7! 6! 5!”

_One good jab will send him flying,_ Cloud thought, flipping his sword in his hand to a double-handed grip. _“Grah!”_ he hollered, slashing down, but only catching the edge of Link’s tunic. _Get back here!_

“4! 3!”

“Really!?” Cloud shouted, the weight of his sword prominent in his aching arms as he heaved it back and forth. Each slice had Link a half step ahead of him, and made it more of a slippery task with his shield far out. “Just--!”

“2! 1!”

_“Damn it!”_ In a last ditch effort, Cloud heaved his sword over his head and sliced it around in a “J” shape, slicing against Link’s guard on his sword hand and knocking the Master Sword’s hilt off between his fingers. Still, it wasn’t precise enough before--

_“Time!”_

A pause resonated between them, before Cloud was hit with an overwhelming blow of pain, making him sputter and cough. _Great,_ he thought, watching Link struggle under the same weight, his grip on his sword shaking. _Now it’s--_

_“Sudden death, GO!”_

_I hate sudden death._ Cloud stared down Link, both of them panting as Cloud’s knees shook. _But, if he can pull a fast one on me...so can I…!_

_Can I do it?_

Link’s elbow flinched, reaching for his bow, and Cloud took the plunge--he lunged forward and grabbed Link by the collar, holding him just above his head. “A fair fight, huh?” he huffed, then forced him down and mashed his lips against his.

“Nn--nmm!” Link exclaimed, eyes wide for a moment, then letting them flicker shut, wrapping an arm around Cloud’s waist. _Don’t enjoy it too much,_ he told himself, even as he let his mouth open to the kiss he initiated. _We can kiss more later._

Cloud’s resolve wavered only slightly as Link moaned again. _“A-ahh…”_ His knees quivered, and hand shivered as he slowly began to spin his sword behind his back. _We can...kiss more...later,_ he repeated in his mind. _Because now--_

_\--it’s time to finish this._

He bit down on Link’s lip, bright cyan eyes flashing open. In one, swift motion, he regripped the Buster Sword and thrust it right into Link’s hip, letting him go. With the accumulated damage, there was no contest--he flew clean off the stage in a flash of red and white light, disappearing into the distance. _Checkmate,_ he thought with a smirk.

As soon as he sheathed his sword behind his back, the stage dissolved, dropping him and Link back into the lobby. As soon as Link saw him, he backed Cloud right against the wall, a finger tapping against his chest. “Hey, hey…” Cloud said. “I was just--”

_“You fight dirty,”_ Link signed briskly, a grimace grinding in his teeth.

“Oh, yeah? Then, what was that stunt you pulled?” he retorted, bumping his forehead against Link’s. “That _wasn’t_ dirty?”

"So I _did_ get you with that,” Link whispered, chuckling. “You’re easy.”

Cloud’s face tinged pink. “I-I am not--!”

Link giggled and kissed him three times--once on each cheek, and then a quick peck on the lips. “C’mon, let’s go to the foyer,” he said, trickling his hand down to lace it with Cloud’s. “I want to see how much gold Roy lost…”

Cloud nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He squeezed the hand he held and let his other rest on his shoulder, soon sneaking back to rub the back of his neck with his thumb. _I love how you keep me on my toes,_ he thought, eyes wandering from his eyes through the freckles in his cheeks, over to his lips, especially as they smiled at him. _And I--wait._ “Wait, gold? Were people putting _bets_ on this fight?”

* * *

 

“I think I’m going to buy a new outfit with my spoils,” Bayonetta crooned, jingling a black purse brimming with gold pieces in front of her face. On the couch beside her was Roy, his head in his hands. “Or, maybe just a trophy of you to remember this little incident by~.”

“It went to sudden death!” he groaned, pulling at his hair. “It doesn’t _count!”_

“Ah, ah, ah,” she said, pinching his ear between her thumb and forefinger. “Rules are rules. And it was winner take all, wasn’t it~?”

“Yeah, but--”

“Or would you rather fight _me_ on it?” She lifted his chin to smirk at his bewildered face with one finger, stroking beneath his chin. “Want to bet~?”


End file.
